his is a complicated situation, how significant is it? >> and at 9:00, get a global perspective on the news. >> sending their government a message. >> organizing themselves. >> people say they're finally fed up. >> weeknights on al jazeera america primetime. ♪ a chinese cruise ship with 458 people aboard sinks in the yangtze river. rescuers hear people crying for help. ♪ ♪ you are watching al jazerra live from our headquarters for nba dough hey. we are going to get the latest on that ship in just a moment. also ahead. iraq launches air strikes against isil. about to meet their international allies in paris. south sudan expels the head of the u.n. human tear i didn't know mission. no explanation is given.

and the new cancer treatment scientists are saying is a once in a generation discovery. ♪ ♪ hello, a cruise ship with 458 people on board has capsized in china. at least five people confirmed dead. but rescuers have heard some people crying for help from inside the ship. most passengers are elderly tourists. chinese state media says the captain and chief engineer managed to get out and have been questioned -- detained, rather for questioning. the eastern star sank in the yangtze river in china. and that is in the country's south. crossing over to rob mcbride who is joining us live from hong kong to give us an update on the situation there. what we know about this particular vessel, rob. >> reporter: that's right. this does raise various safety

concerns about cruise ships and about the yangtze river. there has been earlier this year in january another tragedy a tug was undergoing trials when it capsized and 22 lives were lost. but the loss of life on the yangtze is not uncommon. it is the most powerful waterway in china. a huge body of water moving through the center of china. what is unusual is the assumed death toll in this particular tragedy. and that has been the result of a combination of unfortunate circumstances. this happened late at night. we know that pretty much all of the passengers on board were retirees aged 50 to 80. quite a few of those would have been below decks already in their cabins asleep. and the vessel overturned, we understand, from quickly just two minutes for the vice toll vessel to sink. bearing in mind the power of river from the point it sanction

until the point it came to rest was three-kilometers or so. the authorities looking in to the safety of the river and also the growth of these sort of cruise ships that we are having on the yank see river. more people now taking vacation when his they didn't take vacations before. we can assume, for example that a number of these retirees will have been on their first ever vacation when they took this trip. >> right. so rob any indication, then, from the authorities, from the government, what is going to be done next? >> reporter: that's right well, i mean we know that this shipping company has been operating for quite a few decades. it apparently was not operating as far as we know, outside the regulations, it had the required number of life jackets, it was not carrying above the number of passengers it was meant to be carrying. there is some concern about the design of these vessels. i mean, these vessels are four, five decks high, seem to be is

sitting very high out of the without we are a very high center of grvity. these are river boats designed for the more placid flowing waters of rivers than the high seas. it seems what it's not designed for it is the kind of weather conditions that the captain and the chief engineer who were rescued from the vessel say they encountered last night. talk about something akin to a mini cyclone some sort of freak weather accident. it seems whatever do you in terms of marine safety and marine design, it's very difficult to try to indicator -- or try to prepare for events such as the kind of weather they had last night on the yangtze. >> all right rob, for you that update. rob mcbride reporting from hong kong. the nine afghan aid workers have been killed. their n.g.o.s compound was attacked by gunmen on monday night. a woman is among the victim says nicole johnstone joining

is from kabul to tell us about the attack, who the eight workers were, nicole and whether there has been a claim of responds. >> reporter: well, at this stage there hasn't been any claim of responsibility. we don't know whether the taliban was behind it. as you said, the attack happened overnight on their compound. a nongovernment organization, a check-based one called people in need. now, normally this group is -- this n.g.o. is involved in agricultural projects, reconstruction in villages helping rural communities. nine people were killed this included two drivers, two guards and five aid workers. and it happened in the bulk province as you said up in the north, a highly unstable part of the country at the moment. where we are seeing quite a great deal of fighting. >> all right nicole, thank you for that update from kabul.

just to bring you some breaking news. we are getting from myanmar and the navy there is escorting a boat with 727 abandoned migrants to bangladeshi waters. this is according to the myanmar government spokesman who once again has said that the may have is a escorting a boat with 727 abandoned migrants. they are on their way to the bangladeshi quarters, more on that story a little later on al jazerra. moving to what is happening in iraq, isil has killed 87 people in two separate attacks on the army as well as the police. meanwhile, the iraqi air force has launched air strikes against isil. and some of the areas targeted include anbar and others. the defense ministry says it has inflicted heavy losses on the armed group. well, at the same time, paris hosting a high-level ministerial meeting after the recent territory gained by us ill. imran kahn joining us live from baghdad to tell us what expect

to happen in paris imran and what the authorities -- what their message is going to be to their allies in paris. >> reporter: well, what we are being told is that the paris meeting will focus real on two things firstly the effectiveness of the ache strikes. the air strikes say the iraqis are great for sealing off roads and for cutting isil supply lines, they are less useful when it comes to actually close support and giving the iraqi army and security forces the cover they need to go in to clear areas of isil. also what will likely be unfolding at the paris meeting is a plan to take rah mad i prime minister abad-y is keen to showcase his plan to take back ramadi. before this paris meeting took place, we heard from forward straight talking to the people of iraq. let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> translator: the flow of

terrorists coming to iraq never stopped. and the number never went down, even for a fraction. this is a very dangerous phenomenon because it clearly shows that all the efforts by the international community to stop the terrorists from coming to iraq have failed. not to mention that until now isil is still able to sell oil and use its revenue to his finance its criminal enterprise and terrorist operations. >> reporter: well, what is prime minuter al-abadi talking about when he says the flow of terrorists in to iraq. he's talking about syria that's within of the things not being discussed at the paris conference and one of the things that needs to be discussed if there is to be a solution to the isil cries hires in iraq. >> imran kahn reporting from baghdad, imran, thank you. the saudi-led coalition has bombed houthi rebel targets in the mountains around the yemeni capital sanaa. take a look at these pictures, they appear to show the aftermath of one of those air strikes, a weapons depot and the presidential palace are set to have been hit.

many while fighting in the southern region has reportedly killed at least 20 people. south sudan's government has expelled a top u.n. official from the country. toby lanzer was the humanitarian coordinator and deputy envoy. he was appointed in 200012 and was nearing the end of his term no reason has been given for his expulsion. the u.n. has condemned lanzer's expulsion in a statement u.n. second general ban key ki-moon's office said this: ♪ our diplomatic editor james bays has more from thein' headquarters in new york. >> reporter: it's understood that the south sudanese government decided to expel mr. lanzer because it claimed he

made a series of untruthful statements on social media. the u.n. have responded to that saying that he could be reinstated immediately. and i think this is going to create a big difficulty for the relations between the united nations and the government of south sudan which already were not good. remember, the u.n. has 14,000 peacekeepers in south sudan. it has many people living in the actual u.n. camps because they are fearful of the violence going on now for 17 months, you have 130,000 people living in those camps. you have a situation that the u.n. fears in humanitarian terms is going to get much worse. 2.1 million people have been forced to flee from their homes in total. and it's predicted that by the end of july, there will be 4.6 million people in south sudan who are severely foot insecure. so a very difficult humanitarian situation and now the government

of south sudan have expelled the u.n. official in charge of dealing with the humanitarian crisis. you are with al jazerra. and still ahead find out why china is conducting live drills along its border with myanmar. ♪

♪ ♪ held going, you are watching al jazerra here are the headlines. a cruise ship with 458 people aboard has capsized in southern china. at least five people are confirmed dead but rescuers have heard people crying for help from inside the ship.

most passengers are elderly tourists. nine afghan aid workers have been killed, their n.g.o. compound was attacked by gunmen on monday night. south sudan's government has expelled a top u.n. official from the country toby lanzer was the humanitarian coordinator and deputy envoy. no reason was given for his ex- expulsion. the u.s. is saying there are reports that isil is helping syrian forces. assad forces are hitting a town from the south while isil fighters are advancing from the north. now we have a report. >> reporter: these thin are considered lucky for living through another attack. syrians who survive barrel bombs say no words can explain what they go through. for the people of aleppo this, has become far too common. syrian government planes dropping barrels filled with explosives. it's still difficult to breathe though through the thick mixture of smoke and dust.

>> translator: i don't know what, i don't know why, they are just taking revenge on civilians. >> reporter: neighbor after neighbor in a hleb oh, activist says have posted similar videos of destruction and desperate attempts to find survivors. rebel groups in syria say the fighting has intensified on multiple front. in i had lick they face iranian backed hezbollah and assad forces kurdish fighters are forcing out sunni tribes while taking areas from isil. meanwhile, in and around aleppo. the syrian government and isil fighters are attacking simultaneously. and in areas like this, the u.s. government said it's heard reports of what appears to be a joints strategy by isil and the assad government. >> the a jim is making air strikes in support of isil's advance on aleppo adding the extremist on his their attacks in the syrian pop lang. we have long seen that the regime avoids isil lines in

complete contradictions to the regime's public claims to be fighting isil. >> reporter: opposition fighters say a sat forces are hitting from the south and isil fighters are advancing from the north. one of syria's main opposition groups considered to have limited influence on the ground has also spoken out against the spike in attacks against civilians. >> translator: we are asking all friendly country to his expedite help to areas where the regime and iran and isil are conspiring, what is happening in aleppo is like a nuclear bomb and the world conscience is silent, not evening the coalition planes can see what's happening day in, day out. >> reporter: syrian state tv and isil propaganda videos tell a different story. the two sides which rebels say are collaborating continue to show grews the photos of dead fighters. but that narrative makes little difference to civilians caught up in the conflict. they seed see no end to the war that is now in its fifth year.

al jazerra. to palestine now, and it's been a year since hamas and. [ inaudible ] formed a iron at this government. it was hoped the union with ease tensions that followed hamas' take over of gaza in 2007. but deep mistrust between the two sides remain as imtiaz tyab reports. >> reporter: ibrahim is proud of his job he directs traffic at this busy junks in gaza city. and rarely ever misses a day off work. before the past several months he's received only a fraction of his pay. and he's not alone. around 40,000 other workers employed by hamas have not been paid their full salaries, despite assurances by the palestinian unity government, which is the union between the fatah party of president abbas and the political wing of hamas. >> translator: president abbas keeps making promises to us. but we have faced three wars with israel and now aren't

everybody paid for the work we do. a boss should show us mercy. >> reporter: it's been a year since hamas, which controls the gaza strip and fatah which runs the palestinian administration in the occupied west bank, formed a national unity government. but since then the two sides have failed to put aside their differences or solve the many problems facing palestinians. in gaza alone, more than 100,000 palestinians are still homeless after last year's war between hamas and israel. the israeli government continues to blockade the coastal territory, and has allowed only a small amount of reconstruction materials in. meanwhile, hamas' relationship with neighboring egypt continues to deteriorate laws of its age haded links to the outlawed muslim brotherhood resulting in the near permanent closure of the lands crossing. >> translator: unfortunately hamas isn't cooperating with us, we feel frustrated because it sets back the palestinian cause

and the only one that benefits from "the stream" division is the israeli occupation. >> reporter: various representatives have traveled to gaza as part after tempts to recognize size hamas and fatah. but none appear to have enough influence to do so. >> i believe what needed right now is the invention of a third party. the intervention of saudi arabia or the intervention of another party who can mediate either a new agreement between hamas orica tar and basically bring faith sides to implement the last agreement which was signed in the beach camp in pass a. >> reporter: there are few signs the situation will improve? china is holding live fire

drills along part of its border with myanmar. the plan was announced because fighting in myanmar sometimes results in shells exploding in china you province. thousands of people have crossed the board never to china to escape the vie ends, florence looi is in myanmar and explains the significance of the drill. >> reporter: the chinese military have said this exercise involves its air force as well as it's a ground troops. thousands of soldiers, paramilitary personnel aircraft and heavy military equipment. now, the chinese foreign ministry spokesman says it's just an ordinary military drill. but he did mention the conflict. this is a conflict in myanmar but it's already claimed chinese lives when a stray shell in march fell onto yunnan province and killed five people. lead to the chinese premier to

to mention an outrage. the chinese air force actually scrambled fighter jets in response to the incidents. and all this eventually throwed myanmar to publically apologize. but that wasn't the last incidents of spill over of violence. last month several stray shells fell onto chinese territory again. now, china has already issued strongly-worded statements. demanding an investigation and it has urged myanmar to rein in the fighting. so this military exercise is intendeds tointends to sends a much clearer message. saying that kind is a able to take care of any military escalation including a spill over of fighting in to its territory and it's a warn to go myanmar to rein in the fighting. that the chinese side will not take it lightly. china says it's already informed myanmar government about the exercise, but myanmar has not publically responded to that. al jazerra has found

evidence of a russian troop buildup and military ma moves near the eastern ukraine again border. but moscow continues to deny its helping separatist fighters in eastern ukraine. charles stratford reports. >> reporter: russian military equipment on a train close to the ukrainian border. al jazerra has no way of verifying where these vehicles are being moved to or from. the equipment includes armored personnel carriers, medical supply vehicles and tanks. the russian military insignia and number plates have been removed or seemingly painted over. we drove out of town to an area where we had heard there was a makeshift military camp. across the fields we noticed clouds of dust in an area around what looked like a farm. large military vehicles were moving in convoy along the mud tracks. around 10-kilometers behind me is the border with eastern ukraine, the russian military say the reason why there are so many troops and military

equipment in the area is because it's conducted military exercises and it categorically denies its troops have been fight ago long side separatist fighters across the border. there have been russian military bases in this area for many years. the government described a question on whether it was preparing for an attack as completely inappropriate. a photo journalist with the news agency reuters shot these pictures in the same area last week. russia has recently included the deaths of military personnel on what it describes as special operations in peace time as a state secret. the government says the law has nothing to do with the conflict in ukraine. and a recently-released report details what it says is proof the russian military is operating in eastern ukraine. one of the authors of that report opposition leader boris nemtsov was shot dead in russia before it was published. a close association of never is off is in hospital fighting for his life. it's suspected that he may have

been poisoned. a february ceasefire between the separatists and ukrainian army is still holding but with reported violations being committed by both sides. and russia says it has the right to conduct military maneuvers whenever it wants in its territory. despite the sensitivity of the time and place. charles stratford, al jazerra in the russian ukrainian border. at least 69 people have been killed after a fuel tanker crashed in to a busy bus station in southeast nigeria. the red cross says most of the victims were burned beyond recognition. the truck explode odd impact, setting more than 10 vehicles afire, police saying the tanker was speeding and it veered out of control. burundi's government says it's look in to the possibility of postponing elects due on june 26th. the president's plan to run for a third term has led to eeks are weeks of protest asks violence the u.n. is allocating $15 million in aid

to help people fleeing the unrest. >> reporter: 10s of thousands are in neighboring tanzania and rwanda. >> reporter: he isn't sure if it will be safe to go out on tuesday, so he's doing it now. opposition lead nurse burundi are planning to protest against the president's decision to run for a third term which violates the constitution. >> translator: it's calm, there is no protest. civil society and the opposition have called for a break so we can organize our lives. >> reporter: but after weeks of unrest it's been sometimes hard for opposition supporter to break through the sometimes heavy security. on monday, things in the capital seemed to be back to normal. but some people are scared too to be out in pub will go. some protest leaders have left the country, others are in hiding. the question is how many opposition members will be on the street on tuesday if many of

their leaders aren't marching with them. opposition leader says it's not safer for him to join the protests. so he coordinates from home. >> they have been targeting me but thank lord they have not succeed today kill me. since i don't know whether i will die and in which way, it is prefer amb that i just give my until literal contribution when still alive. >> reporter: officials in the ruling party deny they target opposition members. some people hope lead presser neighboring countries would tell the president not to run for a third term when they met in tanzania last week. they didn't. instead they urged the president to did he delay the june 26th election some some in the capital show support for a delay, seeing the relative calm for a chance to go back to work and schools to only. others say they won't give up the fight to try to make sure the president doesn't run for

controversial third term. al jazerra. a retired colombian general is on trial for his alleged role in the assassination of a presidential candidate in 1989, miguel mazza marquez was heads of the intelligence agency when luis carlos juan gunned down while campaigning he's accused of taking payments from the drug cartel to help plan that attack. south korea says for two people have died of middle east respiratory syndrome also known as miers. they are the countries' first fay tal from the disease the government is holding an emergency immediate to go on how to prevent the disease from spreading, they have 25 confirmed cases of mers. a new combination of drugs have been found to shrink tumors, as charlie angela reports. >> reporter: when pam smith was diagnosed with skin cancer, she was terrified she wouldn't live

to see her grandchildren grow up up. she chose a knew combination of drugs being trial and hasn't look back. >> the drugs have shrunk the tumor. they have that return it from nine millimeters down to four millimeters. and afterwards they found some light lesion on his my lungs but even they have shrunk now to like tinier than a pin prix. >> reporter: the trial used a combination of drugs that allow the body's immune system to attack the canorous cells. the drugs were blind tested internationally on 945 patients with advanced melanoma. and what doctors discovered was that 58% of those patients saw their tomb i was shrink or tablize for almost a year. but like any cancer treatment. the drugs don't work equally on everyone and side evenings include rashes, fatigue and diarrhea. the doctor has been treating the

patients with the individual drugs is & is looking forward to using them in combination. >> this is a game changer without a doubt. where the excitement is coming is in the broader perspective. because these are drugs that are not just specific for skin cancer. you are enhancing the bad the bodies own immunity. there is no reason why it shouldn't be effective against other cancers. >> reporter: while one drug boosts the body's immune system the other recontrols the cancer cells allowing them to be tacked tacked. but for the dock to are that led the trials there is more work to. >> for the combination of drugs there will be 40% of patients that don't have significant tomb irrelevant shrinking and we need to understand why and develop new approaches so that hopefully we can get the number of people benefiting from this treatment and these treatments to be higher still so we can help more of our patients. >> reporter: so while the new treatment is not a universal

cure where cancers have previously been treated treated with chemotherapy radio therapy or surgery this is a new weapon in the fight against the disease charlie angela, al jazerra london. you can read more about that store on aljazerra.com. ali velshi. "on target" tonight. many americans are force to choose. troubled waters, tension builds as china builds new islands in the pacific. is 12 weeks of leave, without pay. that's what working mothers with newborns are entitled to under the family medical leave act. that is a far cry from what the rest of the world offers its working mothers.